Thursday, July 25, 2013

My Test Orc: Figure 10 of 265

Today we pass a mile marker on our journey by entering double digit figures, with this my 10th featured BONES on the blog.
Considering the large number of Orcs I have, counting the ones in the Original 30 BONES,and the Orcapoclaypse set I ordered, I felt it was high time I figured out my paint scheme for them. So, I selected one of the Orcs from the Original 30 set to be my test Orc. He was also my first test with spray primering with Krylon Camouflage with Fusion Flat Black. I sprayed him several weeks ago, soon after my Vampire box had arrived and he was still not tacky, so I felt it was safe to paint him as my test subject.

So, his prep was pretty standard; I washed in dish soap, then spray primered as mentioned above, then glued onto a black primed 1.25 inch fender washer using Aleene's Tacky glue.
The first step I did in painting him was to give the whole figure a heavy drybrushing with Ceramcoat "Metallic Pewter". I then painted his skin with Aleene's "Deep Khaki" and his tunic with Folk Art "Barn Red". All straps and the grip on his sword I did with Americana "Charcoal Grey" After all this had dried, I gave the entire figure a wash with GW "Devlan Mud" wash.

When the wash had dried, I added highlights to his skin using the original "Deep Khaki" mixed with a little Aleene's "Dusty Khaki, and to his tunic with the original "Barn Red" mixed with a little GW "Terracotta". I then painted the eyes and the teeth with Americana "Buttermilk", going back and adding a black pupil in each eye. I also did another wash with "Devlan Mud" over the now-painted teeth. I also painted the boots black, and added a little GW "Codex Grey" highlighting on them. Finally I painted the sword with GW "Chainmail' and added some "Chainmail" highlights to the Orc's armor and chainmail. Lastly I added some GW "Mithril Silver" highlights to the sword edge.

After everything had dried overnight, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" and, when dry, flocked the base. Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dull Coat"

I'm very pleased with how the figure turned out with what is, in reality, a very basic and easy paint job. It is a testament to the sculpting that it responds so well to drybrushing and simple highlighting; resulting in a figure which I feel has a lot of character. Now that I am happy with this test figure, I can start work on some of the other Orcs. Hopefully in groups of multiples.

Thanks! While I'm not a fan of the Games Workshop bright green type of Orc, I'm still a bit of a traditionalist,so wanted to something green-ish. I felt the yellowish olive green was a good choice for that. Glad to hear you like it too. Now with the goblins, I might get a little crazier in my color selection. :-)

Thanks! First, let me say that, yes, they probably would stick better without the layer of paint. But, I like to prime before gluing to a washer for a couple reasons. First, I find I can get better coverage and can hit the figure at more angles while spraying the figure if it is laying flat while I spray it, and not either standing, or laying at an angle due to the washer. And secondly, I like to leave the underside of the washer free of paint as I use magnetic sheeting in my storage boxes, and even a thin coat of primer affects the washer's ability to stick to the magnetic sheet. And if I had to lay the figure down to spray it with the washer pre-glued in place, I would end up spraying the bottom of the washer as well. I often put a little square of masking tape in the center of the washer before I spray and remove it afterwards for just that reason; to leave a little bare spot for the glue to adhear to. And when I glue the figure, I'm using a tacky white glue (Aleene's Tacky) which I apply around the very edge of the figure's base, so when I press the figure down, the glue oozes up a little over the edge of the figure's base, providing a securing lip around the base for an extra hold to the washer, besides just the glue to the figure itself.

Thanks -- I had a Dork Tower (: miniature that was mostly armor, and it worked just fine. Very weird to see her face covered in metal paint, though!

If you take requests, I hope you will do the other orcs soon! I'd like to paint them as a batch, and see how you do the orcs in fur that aren't wearing armor. I have several Barbarians that are several months old and incomplete because I haven't done their furs yet!

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About Me

I've been a gamer since my high school days in the 70's. I'm married to Jennifer, and reside in Maryland. I am co-author, along with Buck Surdu, of "GASLIGHT" and several of its supplements, and "Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII", and "LSNC: ACW". I also wrote the "Thunder & Plunder"; half of our Pirate rules, "Blood & Swash"
I am a founding member of the HAWKs wargames club.